The present invention relates to methods and systems for preventing the delivery of unwanted short message service (SMS) messages to a subscriber in a mobile communications network. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for intercepting and discarding unwanted SMS messages at an SMS message routing node, thereby preventing the delivery of unwanted SMS messages to an SMS subscriber.
Short message service, which was first introduced by European wireless network operators in 1991, enables mobile subscribers to easily send and receive text messages via a wireless handset. As the convergence of wireless communication networks and Internet data networks has increased, the sending and receiving of SMS messages via computer terminals has also become commonplace. Although specifications and industry standards related to SMS are constantly evolving and being modified, SMS messages have traditionally been used to convey readable text information, where the text can include any combination of alphanumeric characters. After the initial text messaging application, service providers began focusing on using SMS as a means of eliminating alphanumeric pagers by permitting two-way, general-purpose, messaging and notification services. One service that was provided was voice mail notification. As technology and networks continued to mature, a variety of services were introduced, including electronic mail (email) and fax integration, paging integration, interactive banking, and information services, such as stock quotes, news highlights, etc.
SMS delivery service provides a mechanism for transmitting xe2x80x9cshortxe2x80x9d messages to and from SMS-capable terminals (e.g., wireless handsets, personal computers, etc.) via the signaling component of the wireless communication network. With particular regard to the sending and receiving of SMS messages by a wireless handset, a wireless network provides the transport facilities necessary to communicate short messages between a short message service center (SMSC) and a wireless handset. A short message service center functions as a store and forward platform for short messages. In contrast to earlier text message transmission services, such as alphanumeric paging, SMS technology is designed to provide guaranteed delivery of an SMS message to a destination. That is, if a temporary network failure prohibits the immediate delivery of an SMS message, then the short message is stored in the network (i.e., at an SMSC) until the destination becomes available. Another of the key and distinguishing characteristics of SMS service with respect to previously available message communication services is that an active mobile handset is able to receive or transmit a short message at any time, regardless of whether or not a voice or data call is in progress.
SMS can be characterized as an out-of-band packet delivery technique with low per-message bandwidth requirements. Hence, SMS services are appealing to network owners and operators. FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an SMS implementation in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) wireless network. It will be appreciated that a functionally similar SMS architecture could also be employed in non-GSM wireless networks. In any event, FIG. 1 includes a wireless communication network, generally indicated by reference numeral 100. Wireless network 100 includes a sending mobile terminal 110 that formulates and sends an SMS message and a base station system 112 that manages the network-to-air interface and reliably transmits the SMS message into the core wireless network. In this particular example, the receiving end of the network includes a base station system 126 and a receiving mobile terminal 128. Wireless network 100 also includes a pair of mobile switching centers (MSCs) 114 and 124, a pair of signal transfer points (STPs) 116 and 122, a short message service center (SMSC) 118 and a home location register (HLR) 120.
As mentioned previously, SMSC 118 is responsible for relaying, storing, and forwarding short messages between sending and receiving SMS terminals. HLR 120 is a database platform used for permanent storage and management of mobile service subscriptions, mobile subscriber profiles, and mobile subscriber location information. HLR databases permanently store information about subscribers that belong to the same network as the HLR. A database element, known as a visitor location register (VLR), is used to temporarily store information about subscribers who are currently xe2x80x9croamingxe2x80x9d in the area serviced by that VLR. The VLR may belong to the subscriber""s home network or to a non-home network. Typically, VLR databases are integrated within MSC network elements, and, as such, an explicit VLR node is not shown in FIG. 1. The HLR and VLR store information needed to correctly route voice calls or data communications to the mobile subscriber. This may include international mobile station identification (IMSI), mobile identification number (MIN), mobile directory number (MDN), and mobile station international ISDN number (MSISDN), as well as the IDs of the VLR and MSC with which the subscriber is currently associated.
With particular regard to short message service operations, HLR 120 provides SMSC 118 with network routing information for the receiving mobile subscriber or mobile terminal 128. In certain cases, HLR 120 may also inform SMSC 118, which has previously initiated unsuccessful short message delivery attempts to a specific mobile station, that the mobile station is now recognized by the mobile network to be accessible.
MSC 114 is sometimes referred to as an SMS interworking MSC (SMS-IWMSC) because it is capable of receiving a short message from a wireless network and submitting it to the appropriate SMSC. In practice, SMS-IWMSC nodes are typically integrated with an MSC in the network but may also be integrated with the SMSC. In a similar manner, MSC 124 is sometimes referred to as an SMS gateway MSC (SMS-GMSC) because it is capable of receiving a short message from an SMSC, interrogating a home location register for routing information, and delivering the short message to the xe2x80x9cvisitedxe2x80x9d MSC of the recipient mobile station.
FIG. 2 illustrates a communications network 150, which is a variation of the wireless network 100 described above. In place of a sending base station system and sending wireless terminal, network 150 contains a sending email client 152 and an email server 154. Email server 154 formulates SMS messages based on email messages and forwards the SMS messages to SMSC 118. As such, an email message may be generated by a wireline computer terminal residing within a data network (e.g., the Internet) and sent to a mobile terminal within a wireless network as a SMS message.
The signaling infrastructure of wireless network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is based on signaling system no. 7 (SS7), a telecommunications industry standard signaling protocol. SMS service makes use of the SS7 mobile application part (MAP), which defines the methods and mechanisms of signaling communication in mobile or wireless networks. The MAP protocol utilizes the transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) component of the SS7 protocol. Both North American and international standards bodies have defined a MAP layer using the services of the SS7 TCAP component. The North American standard is published by Telecommunication Industry Association and is referred to as IS-41 MAP, while the international standard is defined by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute and is referred to as GSM MAP.
FIG. 3 is a sample message flow diagram associated with the delivery of a short message (SM) to a mobile subscriber or terminal in GSM wireless network. This diagram assumes the IWMSC and the GMSC node are both integrated into the SMSC node. The messages illustrated in FIG. 3 are GSM MAP protocol messages. However, a similar call flow is used for the IS-41 MAP protocol. In step 1, a short message, such as a text message, is formulated by a sending mobile terminal and transmitted via a signaling network to an MSC node. In response to receiving the SM, the MSC formulates a MAP-SEND-INFO-FOR-MO-SMS query message and transmits the query message to the VLR node with which the MS is currently registered (step 2). The VLR responds to the query and, if the receiving mobile subscriber (MS) is registered, provides the MSISDN corresponding to the IMSI to the MSC. Upon receiving the MS information, the MSC transmits the short message in a MAP-MO-FORWARD-SHORT-MESSAGE message to the SMSC (step 3). The SMSC sends a MAP-SEND-ROUTING-INFO message to the HLR of the SMS recipient using the recipient""s MSISDN (step 4). The HLR responds with the IMSI of the recipient and the MSC with which the IMSI is currently registered.
If the information received from the HLR indicates that the recipient is available (i.e., currently registered with an MSC and turned on with sufficient memory), the SMSC then transmits the short message to the MSC in a MAP-MT-FORWARD-SHORT-MESSAGE (step 5) and transmits a delivery report to the sending MSC (step 6). An SMSC attempts to deliver a short message to a receiving MS whenever the MS is registered and available (i.e., turned on with sufficient memory), even when the MS is engaged in a voice or data call. Such service is referred to as point-to-point delivery service and is accomplished via the use of the Short Message Delivery-Point-to-Point (SMD-PP) and ForwardShortMessage mechanisms in IS-41 and GSM, respecftively.
In step 7, the MSC queries the VLR with which the recipient is currently registered with a MAP-SEND-INFO-FOR-MT-SMS message. The VLR returns location information associated with the intended recipient (e.g., the MSISDN number for the intended recipient). Using the information obtained from the VLR database, paging and authentication operations are initiated between the MS and the base station. Once the receiving MS has been authenticated and located, the MSC transmits the short message to the mobile (step 8). In step 9, information associated with the disposition or status of the SMS delivery attempt is returned to the SMSC.
It will be appreciated that such delivery status information may be used by the SMSC to ensure or guarantee the delivery of a particular message. That is, when a short message delivery attempt by the SMSC fails due to a temporary network failure, the SMSC requests that it be notified by the HLR when the indicated mobile subscriber becomes accessible. Such message waiting functionality is achieved via the use of the SMS notification indicator and set message waiting data mechanisms in IS-41 and GSM, respectively.
From the discussion of SMS operation fundamentals presented above, it will be appreciated that the SMS components of a wireless communication network will diligently attempt to deliver every SMS message that is received by the network. While such guaranteed delivery service is an attractive feature or attribute of SMS system operation, the delivery of each and every SMS message addressed to a particular subscriber may not always be desirable. As the popularity of portable wireless communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, hand-held computing devices, etc.) continues to rise, it is anticipated that SMS messaging may become widely used as a retail advertising medium. As such, SMS subscribers may find themselves the constant target of unwanted SMS messages, often referred to as xe2x80x9cspamxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cjunkxe2x80x9d messages. Spam SMS messages may be annoying to mobile subscribers. In addition, from a network operations perspective, large volumes of spam SMS messaging traffic has the potential to severely impact overall network performance. In any event, there exists a need for novel methods and systems for preventing the delivery of unwanted SMS messages to a mobile subscriber and also to eliminate such unwanted SMS message traffic from an operator""s network so that valuable network resources (e.g., SMSCs, HLRs, VLRs, etc.) are not burdened by spam SMS message traffic.
According to one aspect, the present invention includes a signaling message routing node that transmits and receives short message service (SMS) data packets via a communications network. The routing node includes an SMS message discriminator (MD) database that contains information used to determine whether a received SMS message is wanted by a called or receiving party. The MD database includes data used to identify a sending and/or receiving party attribute of an SMS message, as well as discrimination processing instructions. Such discrimination processing instructions may include an indicator that directs an SMS message to be discarded (i.e., not delivered to the intended addressee) or an indicator that directs an SMS message to be routed normally (i.e., delivered to the intended addressee). An SMS message generation module may generate a new SMS message addressed to the sending or calling party associated with a discarded message. This new SMS message may notify the sending or calling party that delivery of the discarded SMS message was unsuccessful.
The SMS message discrimination module of the present invention may also examine sending party, calling party, and/or routing information contained in an SMS message received to determine the source of a repeat SMS spam originator. As such, it may be possible for an SMS message discrimination module of the present invention to identify the particular network, network elements, or communication terminal(s) from which spam SMS messages are being originated or staged. If the origin of such spam SMS messaging can be determined, a new SMS message can be generated to notify one or more network operators of the incident so that appropriate steps can be taken to eliminate the spam SMS originator""s access to an operator""s network and network resources (e.g., SMSCs, HLRs, VLRs, MSCs, etc.).
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to allow a short message service subscriber to specify from which calling or sending parties SMS messages will be received.
It is another object of the present invention to allow a short message service subscriber to specify from which calling or sending parties SMS messages will not be received.
It is another object of the present invention to prevent a short message service subscriber from receiving unwanted or spam type SMS messages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a network routing node that facilitates the enforcement of spam SMS message elimination measures.
lt is another object of the present invention to provide a network routing node that prevents wireless network resources (e.g., SMSCs, HLRs, VLRs, MSCs, etc.) from being burdened with the processing of spam SMS messages.
It is another object of the present invention to notify the sending or calling party of an SMS message associated with an SMS spam message that the offending spam SMS message has been discarded.
It is another object of the present invention to notify a network operator of the occurrence of a spam SMS message so that steps may be taken by the operator to prevent further spam SMS message traffic from the spam SMS message originator.
Some of the objects of the invention having been stated hereinabove, other objects will be evident as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings as best described hereinbelow.